684 



SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS. 



Three- 

 celled capsule. 



the nature of the fruit depends. The fruits are classified, some being the 

 produce of a single carpel, others of several united carpels. 



Fruit, in botany, is by 

 no means limited to the juicy 

 products of trees or plants 

 which are so refreshing in the 

 summer weather, and so ac- 

 ceptable in any form. In 

 plant life the herb yielding 

 seed produces a fruit equally 

 with the orange or the apple. ^.796. 

 The fruit is the outcome of the celled 

 varied processes of the plant. We may 

 trace the plant from its tiny, sometimes 

 very minute seed, through 

 stem to flower and seed 

 again. "In the final strug- 

 gle, even when life is hope- 

 less, and starvation, in 

 consequence of drought, 

 is imminent when all is 

 hopeless and barren, the 

 plant will make an effort 

 to produce its fruit and 

 flower." This is a very 



Fig. 795. Umbelliferous plant and its fruit. 



Fig. 797. Poppy, 



touching and interesting fact in nature this last attempt to beautify the 

 earth and to . propagate its species for the use of man. 



Fruit, then, is not limited to the 

 market and the stall. 



This statement scarcely needs proof; but 



if we consider for a moment 



the number of "wild" fruits 



the parents, probably, of our 



table-fruits we find many 



we cannot eat. In short, 



out of the hundred thousand 



plants which bear flowers 



scarce one two-hundredth 



Fig. 798^-^ree.celled P ait SerVG US aS Placers 



The fruit is the result of the flower, and 

 if any objection be made by readers on the 

 part of the common fig, it will be found that Fig " 799-Water meio.. 



this appreciated fruit really consists of male and female flowers that are ferti- 

 lized by the action of minute insects, which enter and depart (sometimes they 



